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O'Connell was born in 16 Mabel Street, Dublin on the eighth of March 1887, not far from the modern site of Croke Park. From age 14 he worked at Johnston, Mooney and O'Brien. He also played junior football with several local Dublin clubs, including Frankfort, Stranville Rovers and Liffey Wanderers, before joining Belfast Celtic.[2] In March 1909, together with left-back Peter Warren, he was transferred from Celtic to Sheffield Wednesday for a combined fee of £50.[3]

A terrific performer in the heart of the defence, O'Connell made his English First Division debut for Sheffield Wednesday against Bury on the last day of the 1908–09 season. However, in subsequent seasons he was unable to establish himself as a regular in the Wednesday first team due to competition from English McConnell, Jimmy Spoors and Bob McSkimming. As a result, he made just 21 senior appearances, 18 in the league and 3 in the FA Cup. However while with Wednesday, O'Connell made two of his six international appearances for Ireland.[3]

O'Connell's impressive performances with Ireland attracted the attention of Manchester United whom he signed for in May 1914 for a fee of £1,000.[2] During the 1914–15 season he served as United team captain, made 34 First Division appearances and scored twice. He also played one further game for the club in the FA Cup. He made his league debut and scored his first goal for the club on 2 September 1914 in a 3–1 home defeat against Oldham Athletic. He scored his second goal on 10 April 1915 in a 2–2 home draw with Middlesbrough and made his final English League appearance for the club on 26 April in a 1–0 home win against Aston Villa.[4][5]

O'Connell's time at United saw the club finish third from bottom in the First Division, narrowly avoiding relegation by a single point. He also became embroiled in the infamous 1915 British football betting scandal. On 2 April 1915 relegation threatened United defeated mid-table Liverpool 2–0 in a home league game. It subsequently emerged that the game was fixed by a small group of players from both sides. David Goldblatt[6] argues that the players concern was not who went up or down the league, but due to the First World War, that there would be no league at all the following season. Believing they would soon be unemployed, the players arranged a betting pool and backed United to win 2–0. This was the score when O'Connell took a penalty which went well wide[7] O'Connell escaped punishment but three of his teammates – Sandy Turnbull, Arthur Whalley and Enoch West – and four Liverpool players later received lifetime suspensions from The Football Association.[8] During the war, O'Connell remained a United player and also guested for Clapton Orient, Rochdale and Chesterfield.[2]

In August 1919 O'Connell moved to Dumbarton and during the 1919–20 season made 31 league appearances and played twice in the Scottish Cup. He made his Scottish League debut as a right-half in a 1–1 draw with Ayr United on 16 August 1919, the opening day of the season. His first three appearances for Dumbarton were at right-half while all the rest were at centre-half, with the exception of the home game against Hamilton Academical on 27 September 1919 when he again played at right-half. He made his final appearance for Dumbarton in a 4–3 away defeat against Aberdeen on 24 April 1920.[9]

O'Connell finished his playing career with Ashington. During his first season with the club, 1920–21, they played in the North Eastern League and finished ninth out of twenty teams. The 1921–22 season saw O'Connell appointed player-coach and Ashington playing in the English Division Three North. O'Connell saw massive changes at Ashington with the club's league status having changed. Their home ground was upgraded from a typical non-league venue containing no more than a simple seated and covered stand to a stadium designed for 20,000. O'Connell played in the club's first ever English League fixture, a 1–0 win against Grimsby Town in front of 9,000 supporters. Ashington eventually finished the season in a respectable tenth position with O'Connell making his last appearance for the club in a 2–2 home draw against Southport.[10] In January 1921, while with Ashington, O'Connell also represented the North Eastern League against the Central League.[3]

Between 1931 and 1935 O'Connell managed Real Betis, at the time known as Betis Balompie. After leading them to the Segunda División title in 1932 he then guided Betis, with a team that included Lecue, to their one and only La Liga title in 1935. Betis won the title on 28 April 1935 with a 5–0 win against O'Connell's former team Racing de Santander. The night before the game, which was played in Santander, O'Connell visited the Racing squad at a hotel where they were staying and allegedly tried to persuade them to lose the game. Betis had to beat Racing to overtake their rivals Real Madrid.[15]

Due to the financial success of this tour, FC Barcelona cleared their debts and saved the club, however O'Connell returned to Spain with only four players after the others chose to go into exile in Mexico and France. By the 1937–38 season the Republican area was reduced in size and a second Mediterranean League was impossible to organise. However a Lliga Catalana, featuring just Catalan teams, was organised. Despite a depleted squad, O'Connell and FC Barcelona won both the Lliga Catalana and the Campionat de Catalunya.[20][21]

A bust commemorating O'Connell's league title achievement with Real Betis was installed at the club's Estadio Benito Villamarín in 2017.
Organised by the Patrick O'Connell Memorial Fund.A documentary about Patrick and the Fund, by Michael Andersen was released in May 2018 with the support of the Memorial Fund. Patrick's new memorial was installed by the fund in April 2016.[23]